WITH three minor rounds left in the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association season, the top four is all but set in the A1 competition.
Ladder-leader Glencoe had the bye last Friday night and remains one win clear on the top of the table.
For Reidy Park, a win against fourth-placed Mount Gambier has also earned it a one-win buffer, while a loss for Uniting Church against bottom-placed West Gambier has not helped it in the standings, as it clings to third place by only a couple of points.
Reidy redeemed itself from its Round 8 defeat when it claimed a two-set win over Mount Gambier at the traditional Friday night venue of Olympic Park.
Despite the eventual loss, the top-order Mount Gambier men showed their strength, with Andrew Van den Hurk showing his class to win his match against Ky Edwards 6-0.
Tom Madigan also performed, accounting for Reidy’s Jordan Tucker with a closer 6-4 result.
Mount Gambier number four Tom Snell also tasted success, defeating Stephen Young 6-1.
This was not the case for Hayden Hancock, as his number three opponent Matthew Stark proved too strong, with the Reidy player taking a comfortable 6-0 win.
In the women’s games, Reidy excelled as it won all four singles matches.
Mount Gambier’s Lacey Burston was unlucky in her last game in the association before a move to Adelaide, with the talented Olivia McEvoy winning the top-order match 6-2.
Similar results were seen in the other women’s games, with Reidy’s Brittany McEvoy defeating Heidi Heemskerk 6-3, while Sharon and Emily Edwards also won their games against Georgia Ferguson and Jayel Van den Hurk 6-1 and 6-2 respectively.
In the doubles, Andrew Van den Hurk and Madigan teamed up for another solid result, winning against Ky Edwards and Stark 6-1, 6-0.
Hancock and Snell also reaped rewards for Mount Gambier, defeating Tucker and Young 6-2, 6-2.
However, once again the Reidy women stepped up, with Bailey Young and Brittany McEvoy pairing up to defeat Burston and Jodie Carey 6-1, 6-2.
Sharon and Emily Edwards held Ferguson and Jayel Van den Hurk to a love match, with the Reidy duo winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
This was enough to solidify the win for Reidy, as it sits in good stead going into the final rounds of the 2017-18 season.
For Uniting Church it was not the result it was after when West claimed a seven-set win over the third-placed team.
The men’s singles saw West put on a dominant performance to win each match, with the closest seeing Ethan Schultz with a 6-4 win over Daniel Moon.
Jacob Wilkinson won his game 6-2 against Travis Crowe, while Michael Jolley and Noah Lang both recorded 6-0 victories.
It was a mixed result in the women’s singles, with two wins apiece for both teams.
Uniting Church’s Tessa Megaw dominated the court to defeat Charlotte Bruhn 6-0, while teammate Alison Telford also secured a 6-0 victory over West’s Abbey Patzel.
For West, Joanne Sealey won the top-order singles 6-3 against Ashlea Oldfield, while Brooke Winterfield had a narrow win over Vanessa Maxwell in a tiebreak.
In the doubles, the Oldfield and Megaw partnership was the only success for Uniting Church, with a 6-1, 6-4 triumph.
The next closest game saw West’s Schultz and Wilkinson with a win in three sets over Moon and Crowe, after the Uniting Church pair won the opening set in a tiebreak.
This week will see Reidy with the bye, while Glencoe takes on West and Uniting Church goes head-to-head with Mount Gambier.
